Musk refers to Tesla's self-driving technology as an "autopilot," calling a fully-autonomous car a "bridge too far" in the Financial Times interview. Drivers will reportedly be able to switch the system on and off, just like an airplane's autopilot.

This could potentially allow Tesla to sidestep the many legal issues surrounding self-driving cars. So far, California and Nevada have legalized testing of these cars on public roads, but their status in other states is ambiguous at best.

In the race to put a self-driving car into production, Tesla's main automotive rivals will be Mercedes and Nissan, both of which have pledged to put autonomous vehicles into production by 2020.